Hidden Forces

Ep.21: Design Philosophy, Superintelligence, Relativism, and Simulation with John Borthwick

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Episode Summary for Design Philosophy, Superintelligence, Relativism, and Simulation with John Borthwick

In this episode of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with John Borthwick, about design philosophy, superintelligence, relativism, and simulation. John Borthwick is CEO and Co-founder of Betaworks, a startup platform that builds and invests in companies across the social, data-driven media Internet. The Betaworks platform combines three areas of expertise. The first is a studio for building products like Giphy, Dots, bitly, and Tweetdeck. The second is an investment fund for early-stage start-ups related to the areas in which the company is building (investments here include: Tumblr, Kickstarter, Medium and Gimlet). Lastly, there is “camp”: a thematic accelerator program for start-ups in frontier technology such as Bots, AI, and Verbal Computing. In this manner, John Borthwick and his team at Betaworks combine art and science in their design philosophy, as they create extraordinary companies and work with exceptional people across the technological landscape.

In this conversation, Demetri and John blur the line between man and machine. “Computers are no longer that ‘other’ thing, that ‘other’ object. The line between machines and humans is becoming indistinguishable,” says John Borthwick. The two reconsider our place as observers and users of technology in this increasingly intermediated universe of digital experience. They reimagine consciousness and explore a theory of mind that questions our notions of humanity, our sense of identity, and our assumptions of free will. How do we develop a design philosophy for our machines without losing sight of our humanity? Who are we designing our world for? And, what do we hope to achieve as we dissolve into this immersive technological future of superintelligence, disembodied consciousness, relativism, and simulation?